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7 



HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL 



REVIEW OF 



THE SUNDAY QUESTION; 



REPLIES TO AN OBJECTOR. 



BY GEORGE W. BROWN, M. D. 



ALL TIME IS TOO SACRED TO DO WRONG, NO .-TIME IS TOO 



SACRED TO DO GtlOD. 



(( NOV 111882, 

X£9Vor.i*AemHG 



' OF WASHl^ 



ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS: 

STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY THE AUTHOR. 






COPYRIGHT, BY G. W. BROWN, M. D., 

1882. 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



Tffg LllRARY 

©F CuNnuRsa 

WASHINGTON 



THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

INTRODUCTION. 

A river is pouring its waters into the great sea. 
Whether an Amazon, or a Nile, we desire to find 
its source, and trace its progress until swallowed 
up in the ocean. So with human legislation. It 
is not enough to find a law on the statute books; 
we wish to know from whence it came; the motives 
of the law-givers in enacting it; whether it has ac- 
complished its purpose; and learn if the causes 
still remain for its continuance. 

It matters little to what domain we turn, — 
whether to the moral, religious or historical, — ' 
every subject which engages the attention of man 
must be subjected to the analysis of Reason. He 
who attempts to teach that Reason is carnal, and is 
not to be trusted, controverts Infinite Wisdom who 
gave it to man for his guidance. 

One-seventh of all the days of the year are exclu- 
ded from labor by legal enactment, and involuntary 
idleness is forced upon the people. It is claimed 
that this law has a divine origin, and that human 
legislation on the subject is in aid of revelation. 

It is our purpose in these pages to inquire into 
the derivation of the Sabbath; trace its history very 
hurriedly down to modern times; and view it from 
an ethical and legal stand-point Will the reader 



2 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

divest himself of prejudice, the result of early 
education, and journey with us to the conclusion? 

It is said, "There are two sides to all ques- 
tions." Every pulpit throughout the land has been 
thundering its arguments and logic for centuries in 
support of a rigid observance of the Sabbath. It 
has, at the same time, been hurling its anathemas 
and imprecations against those who controvert 
its positions. But little has been said in opposition; 
and yet the teachings of the clergy are by no means 
generally endorsed. The great mass of the people 
act as if they thought a portion of the day should 
be observed for relaxation from secular affairs, 
for family reunions, and recreations, rather than 
exclusively for religious devotion. We hope to 
strengthen them in this direction, in confirmation of 
'the teachings of Jesus, that "The Sabbath was 
made for man, not man for the Sabbath." 

ANCIENT TEACHINGS REGARDING THE SABBATH. 

The ancients noted time by lunar months, as did 
the Indians of America. Those ancients were wor- 
shipers of the sun and moon. They divided their 
month of twenty-eight days into quarters, coincid- 
ing with the changes of the moon, and on the days 
of these changes their priests, in behalf of the 
people, made sacrifices. Six days of labor and one 
of rest was observed throughout Chaldea, Assyria, 
Phcenecia and Egypt, from the earliest times. 

Abraham, who it is claimed was the father of 



THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 3 

the Jews, was a Chaldean by birth and education, 
and in emigrating to the land of Canaan carried with 
him those institutions and modes of thought, under 
which he was reared to manhood. Among those 
institutions was the division of time, which he 
inherited from his ancestors and transmitted to his 
successors. 

We afterwards find these clescenclents of Abra- 
ham slaves in Egypt, for a period of 215 years. 
There they found a similar division of time and 
the last day of the week was observed by the 
inhabitants as one of rest and worship. In going 
out of Egypt, lately slaves, they carried with them 
the institutions which they inherited from their 
ancestor Abraham, and to which they had been 
accustomed for so many years, and in which 
their leader, Moses, was specially educated. 

We have been taught that the heavens and earth 
were created in six days, and that on the seventh 
the work was ended, and the Creator rested, as if 
weary from over-toil. At what hour on the seventh 
day he "ended" his labors we are not advised. 
Biblical scholars have long since come to the con- 
clusion that those "days" spoken of were long 
periods of indefinite duration, each extending from 
what appears to the contrary through countless 
millions of years. The seventh day, then, of rest 
would extend through an equally long period. 
Hence we can derive nothing in regard to a Sabbath 
of rest for man from this event. 



4 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

Passing from Genesis to Exodus, Chapter 12, 
and reading it at length, we find the reasons for 
the observance of the Sabbath by the Jews, because 
they were emancipated from Egyptian bondage. 

"This month, [lunar month,] shall be unto you 
the beginning of months; it shall be the first month 
of the year to you." — Ex. 12: 2. 

A feast was then provided for, and, verse 6th, it 
was to be "kept until the 14th day," or middle of 
the lunar month. 

Verse "14. This day shall be unto you for a 
memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord 
throughout your generations; and ye shall keep it 
a feast by an ordinance forever." 

"15. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread. 

"16. And in the first day there shall be a holy 
convocation to you; no manner of work shall be 
done in them, save that which every man must 
eat; that only may be done of you. 

**17. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened 
bread; for in this selj same day have I brought 
your armies out of the land of Egypt, therefore, 
[that is for this reason] shall ye observe this day 
in your generations forever. 

"23. And ye shall observe this thing for an 
ordinance to thee and thy sons forever." 

Chap. 19: 8. "This is done because of that which 
the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of 
Egypt," 

Turning to Ex. 20: 8, 9, 10, and 11, we find the 
ordinance mentioned above: 

"8. Kemember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 

"9. Six days shalt thou labor, etc. 

"10. But the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord, 
etc. 



THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 5 

"11. For in six days the Lord made heaven and 
earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested on 
the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the 
Sabbath day, and hallowed it." 

The reason here given for the observance of the 
seventh day is very different from that given for 
the feast in the 12th chapter. 

The "ordinance," usually called the decalogue, 
or ten commandments, gives the true reason for 
which the Jewish Sabbath was instituted. 

Deut. 5:15: "And remember that thou wast a 
servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord 
thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty 
hand, and by a stretched out arm; therefore the 
Lord commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day." 

The word Sabbath, in Hebrew, signifies rest. 
According to the bible account it was observed as 
a sort of weekly holiday, as Americans observe the 
4th of July annually in commemoration of their 
national independence. It was designed for the 
Jews and their posterity for all time; but had no 
force or authority outside of that people. If a 
command of God, and designed for all people, and 
all time, then the penalty of "stoning to death," 
for the infringement of the ordinance should be 
specially enforced. No one in our age, not even 
the most fanatical, would favor so severe a penalty, 
for merely "picking up sticks on the Sabbath." 
And every other Mosaic law is of equally binding 
force, even to the eating of pork, circumcision, etc., 
as is the Sabbath law, and no more. 



b THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

But as Christians do not observe the Jewish 
Sabbath, but have a day of their own, we will 
inquire into the authority for the observance of 
that day, and see if it has any recognition from the 
Master, his disciples or apostles, or their immediate 
successors. 



TEACHINGS OF JESUS, THE APOSTLES, AND EAKLY 
CHRISTIANS. 

We seek in vain to find evidence that Jesus paid 
more respect to the Jewish Sabbath than to any 
other day of the week. He openly disregarded the 
strict observance of this day, as practiced by the 
Jews, and nowhere commanded his followers to 
regard it as more sacred than other days. When 
the Pharisees complained that his disciples passed 
through a cornfield on the Sabbath day, doing that 
which was unlawful, he defended their conduct, 
and said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man 
for the Sabbath." On another occasion, when in- 
dignantly censured by the ruler of the synagogue, 
and told: "There are six days in which men ought 
to work, * * and not on the Sabbath 

day." Jesus called the ruler a "hypocrite" for thus 
interfering with him in his mission. For command- 
ing the sick man to "Take up thy bed and walk," 
on the Sabbath day the Jews sought to kill him, 
stone him to death, as was the Israelite law for 
gathering sticks on the Sabbath day, or doing any 
secular work, (See Numbers 15: 32-36.) But Jesus 



THE SUNDAY QUESTION. Y 

replied, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." 
On these occasions, when censured and even threat- 
ened with death for his disregard of this holy day, 
on no occasion, in public or private, is it recorded 
that he commanded, or even requested his followers 
to keep that day more sacred than the rest. True, 
he taught in the synagogue on the Sabbath, and so 
he taught on the other days, and all days. 

Neither is there any command or custom derived 
from Jesus, requiring his followers to devote any 
special day to worship. 

And what is true of Jesus in this regard is true 
of his immediate followers and apostles. That 
they voluntarily came together on the first day of 
the week "to break bread," is true; but no one 
seems to contemplate that this was obligatory upon 
him or that it was other than a free act. 

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, 14: 5, settles 
this matter beyond controversy, by saying: "One 
man esteemeth one day above another; another man 
esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully 
persuaded in his own mind." As to the effect of 
any of the Jewish ordinances, we read that Christ 
came, Col. 2: 14-16. "Blotting out the hand- writ- 
ing of ordinances that was against us, and took it 
out of the way, nailing it to the cross. * * 
Let no man, therefore, judge you in meat, or in 
drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new 
moon, or of the Sabbath day." 

And to the Galatians, 4: 10-11, Paul wrote: "Ye 



8 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

observe days, and months, and times, and years, I 
am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you 
labor in vain." 

So good authority as the "Encyclopedia of Eeli- 
gious knowledge," article Sabbath, says: "There is 
not on record any divine command issued to the 
apostles, to change the Sabbath from the day on 
which it was held by the Jews, to the first day of 
the week." 

Eusebius, the well-known church historian, in 
his Ecclesiastical History, tells us of the early 
Christians: "They did not regard circumcision, nor 
observe the Sabbath, neither do we; neither do we 
abstain from certain foods, nor regard other 
injunctions which Moses subsequently delivered 
to be observed in types and symbols, because such 
things as these do not belong to Christians." 

Please remember that Eusebius wrote in the year 
324, and is the authority for all the subsequent . 
church histories which have been written of those 
early times. 

And Neander, the greatest of ecclesiastical histo- 
rians, tells us: 

"The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, 
was always only a human ordinance, and it was far 
from the intention of the apostles to establish a 
divine command in this respect; far from them 
and from the early apostolic church, to transfer 
the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday. Perhaps at 
the end of the second century a false application of 
this kind had begun to take place, for men appear 
by that time to have considered laboring on Sunday 



THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 9 

FIRST LEGAL AUTHORITY FOR SUNDAY. 

When Diocletian abdicated the throne of the 
Cjesars, A. D. 304, the Eornan power prevailed 
throughout nearly all Europe, the north of Africa, 
and western Asia to the Indus. An edict issued by 
the reigning emperor became a law throughout all 
this vast empire, embracing the whole civilized 
globe. A long and bloody internecine war between 
contending factions followed the abdication, which 
resulted in the triumph of Constantine, the re-es- 
tablishment of an almost boundless empire, and the 
transfer, soon after, of the seat of government, and 
the imperial throne, from Rome to Constantinople. 
The result was largely brought about by the Chris- 
tians, who were scattered all over the empire, unit- 
ing their fortunes with those of the successful 
monarch. 

As soon as Constantine was firmly seated on his 
throne he began to devise measures which would 
make the followers of Jesus his devoted friends. 
He claimed to have been converted to his teachings. 
His biographer set up the claim that the symbol of 
the cross displayed on his banner was shown him 
in a dream from which he copied. His great 
zeal in their behalf attracted the clergy to his 
standard; and though his hands were crimsoned 
with the blood of Licinus — his brother-in-law, and 
co-emperor, — with that of his son Crispus, his 
nephew Licinus, and his wife Faustus, with many 
other persons of prominence who seemed in the 
way of his ambition, yet he evidently aspired to 



10 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

become the leader of the church, and, practically 
became such. Says a learned writer: "The most 
unfortunate event that ever befell the human race 
was the adoption of Christianity by this crimson- 
handed cut-throat in the possession of unlimited 
power." 

In subsequent years attempts have been made 
to canonize Constantine for his great services to the 
church; but the advocaius diaboli has always pre- 
sented, in too horrible colors, those dark blood- 
stains which cover his hands, and notwithstand- 
ing his efforts to make himself the popular leader 
of the church he is compelled to rest in an unhal- 
lowed grave minus the title Saint. 

Says a recent biographer of this great bad man, 
who made Christianity the religion of the State, 
and which subsequent ages have labored so sedu- 
lously to over-throw: 

"After having caused seven of his family to be 
put to death in cold blood, after having steeped his 
soul in the guilt of every crime, from private assas- 
sination to wholesale massacre, he called together 
the Christian world at Nicea; and with the diadem 
on his brow covered with jewels, seated in a golden 
chair, the first Christian emperor proceeded to set- 
tle the Christian creed and determine the will of 
God for the coming centuries. In answer to his 
call two thousand fifty-eight bishops, all of different 
sentiments and opinions, met at Nicea, in Bithynia. 
The main object of this council was to decide the 
dispute between Athanasius, deacon of Alexandria, 
and Arius, an eastern schismatic, to-wit: Y/hether 
Jesus Christ was God or creature, and to settle the 
canon of Scripture. This meeting of over two 



THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 11 

thousand violent and exasperated bishops, each in- 
tensely interested in having his own peculiar opin- 
ions prevail, resulted in a general quarrel. To re- 
store harmony, Constantine, as moderator, expelled 
seventeen hundred and thirty of the delegates, thus 
leaving only three hundred and eighteen to settle 
the vexed question whether God the Son was the 
same as God the Father, as well as what writings 
were the word of God." 

The first legal edict of general effect regulating 
the Sabbath, was promulgated A. D. 321, and may 
be found in the Code of Justinian, lib. iii, title 12, 
sees. 2 and 3, in these words : — 

"Let all Judges and people of the town and va- 
rious trades be suspended on the venerable day of 
the Sun, [die Solis.~\ Those who live in the country, 
however, may freely and without fault attend to the 
cultivation of their fields, since it often happens 
that no other day may be suitable for sowing grain 
and planting the vine, lest, with the loss of favorable 
opportunity, the commodities offered by Divine 
Providence shall be destroyed." 

This edict became the basis of all subsequent 
legislation in all Christian countries, ' and is the 
first authoritative direction to observe the first day 
of the week for other than secular purposes. 

The Catholic church became established about 
this time, and her Popes, clothed with temporal 
power, from century to century made rules more 
and more stringent for the observance of this day. 

In the year 538 the third Council of Orleans, re- 
quired that agricultural labor should be suspended 
on Sunday, to the end "that the people may have 
more leisure to go to church and say their prayers." 



12 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

In the 9th century the emperor Leo repealed the 
exemption of Constantine, and required the suspen- 
sion of all labor on Sunday. It was then the clergy 
set up the 4th commandment as an additional reason 
why the day should be employed exclusively for 
religious exercises. 

English legislation on this subject may be traced 
as far back as 1449; but it was not until 1678 that the 
law was passed which may be regarded as the foun- 
dation of all subsequent enactments of its class in 
Great Britian and the United States. By this law 
it was enacted "that no tradesman, artificer, work- 
man, laborer, or other person whatsoever, shall do 
or exercise any worldly labor, business or work of 
their ordinary callings upon the Lord's day or part 
thereof — works of necessity and charity only except- 
ed;" — and "that no person or persons whatsoever 
shall publicly cry, show forth, or expose to sale any 
wares, merchandise, fruits, herbs, goods, or chattels 
whatsoever, upon the Lord's day or any part 
thereof." 



THE FATHERS OF PROTESTANTISM ON THE SABBATH. 

From the time regal authority under Constan- 
tine, began to assume leadership over the church, 
until the Reformation dawned upon the world, in 
the beginning of the 16th century, when Luther 
hurled his powerful invectives against Popery and 
its encroachments upon the pure teachings of Jesus, 
we find continued invasions upon those sublime 



THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 13 

precepts taught by the Master. Pagan worship had 
been abolished, but many of its obnoxious teach- 
ings were engrafted upon the simpler Christian 
system. 

We frankly confess great admiration for that 
noble genius and bold innovator, Luther, who dis- 
regarded established customs, burst the fetters 
of Popery, and laid the immovable foundations of 
Protestantism, which, subsequently, has opened the 
way for an honest thought in every land. Aided 
by the art of printing by which knowledge has 
been so widely diffused, the mind of man has been 
disenthralled, and we are living in an age of scien- 
tific discovery, of enlarged personal and political 
liberty, and with better conceptions of the destiny 
of our race than ever before. 

Luther and his associates saw the great injury 
the cause of Jesus had sustained by innumerable 
holy days, which the church, under Catholic ad- 
ministration, had consecrated to some Saint, or set 
aside for some special observance. He thrust them 
all aside, and left the people free to pursue their 
natural duties, deeming all days God's days, and 
as such should be devoted to His worship. He 
wrote: — 

"As for the Sabbath, or Sunday, there is no neces- 
sity for its observance. If anywhere one sets up its 
observance upon a Jewish foundation, then I do 
order you to work on it, to ride on it, to dance on it, 
to feast on it; to do any thing that shall remove this 
encroachment upon the Christian spirit and liberty." 

Even John Calvin, that stern old reformer and 



14 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

hater of Popery, in his exposition of the fourth 
commandment, wrote: — 

"The fathers frequently called it the shadowy 
commandment, because it contains the external ob- 
servance of the day which was established with th<* 
rest of the figures at the advent of Christ." 

And all the so-called reformers, including Melanc- 
thon, Beza, Bucer, Zuinglius, Cranmer, Milton, and 
the good John Knox, were of the same opinion, and 
so expressed themselves. Even Jeremy Taylor put 
himself on record by writing: — 

"The effect of which consideration is this, that 
the Lord's day did not succeed in the place of the 
Sabbath, but the Sabbath was wholly abrogated, 
and the Lord's day was merely an ecclesiastical 
day." 

Paley, Arnold of Bugby, as well as Archbishop 
Whately employ similar language. So worthy 
and devoted a Christian as William Penn, wrote: 

"To call any day of the week a Christian Sabbath 
is not Christian but Jewish. Give us one scripture 
for it, I will give you two against it" 

It is needless to multiply authorities in this 
direction, though we have a large number of them, 
sufficient to fill many pages. 

All over the continent of Europe, Sunday, at 
this time, is treated by Protestants and Catholics 
alike, as a semi-religious holiday. Beligious ser- 
vices are usually attended in the morning; after- 
noon and evening are devoted to rest and recrea- 
tion. Hence the reason foreigners are so reluctant 



THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 15 

to fall into the puritanical habits practiced in 
America. 

At the time of the great Kef ormation in Germany, 
Switzerland, etc., the English king was engaged in 
a controversy with the church peculiarly his own. 
While the power of the Pope was defied, the teach- 
ings of Catholicism were largely retained, and 
among these many of her holy days, as well as the 
observance of her sacred Lord's day. The Puritans 
in emigrating to America, brought this day with 
them, and have engrafted it upon us as one of the 
most sacred institutions of the church. 

Some churchmen are so bigoted they cannot even 
tolerate a calm discussion of the question, even 
when they have an opportunity to reply, but seek to 
silence investigation by quoting a "Thus saith the 
Lord," thus putting an end to inquiry. But we 
live in an age of thoughtful research, when all 
questions, including the religious, must be tested 
in the grand crucible of Keason; when that which is 
false must pass away; when that which is true 
shall only remain. 

A LEGAL DECISION,— GOD WOBKS ON SUNDAY. 

America was peopled from Europe, and the in- 
stitutions under which the colonists grew to man- 
hood were brought with them. The most rigid 
puritanical notions were entertained by the leaders 
of these emigrating parties. As soon as govern- 
ments were organized stringent laws were made to 



16 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

protect the Sabbath from desecration. In the New 
England States a man must not journey from home 
on that day, unless to or from church. Even in the 
domestic circle the day was one of gloom. The 
meals were prepared as fully as possible on Satur- 
day to the end that no unnecessary labor should be 
done on that day. 

But knowledge has advanced. The people have 
become educated and liberalized, and each freeman 
claims the prerogative of thinking for himself. 
Many antiquated creeds have been revised, many 
an error has been corrected, many changes have 
been made in laws and social customs to accomo- 
date enlarged opinions. If the Sunday laws have not 
been amended to meet these advanced views their 
most oppressive features have become obsolete. 

The divine right of kings is now nowhere acknow- 
ledged, and priests, among reflective men, are no 
longer looked upon as greatly superior persons in 
wisdom or morals. 

As commerce has covered the globe with her white 
wings, so has every form of religious thought been 
weighed in the scales of common sense, and been 
amended to accommodate itself to advanced know- 
ledge. Many teachings, almost universal a hun- 
dred years ago, will scarcely find an advocate now. 
Many a heretic of the past, who suffered martydom 
for not agreeing with the church, would be recog- 
nized as orthodox to-day. 

The lash of scorpions, and the torturous rack are 
no longer employed, and the fagot has ceased to 



THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 17 

burn, to force men into believing a popular theology. 
Would that falsehood, calumny, and social persecu- 
tion were also banished from service for the same 
purpose. 

Efforts have been made to extend the principles 
of the Connecticut Blue Code, as regards Sunday, 
over the United States.* Within the recollection of 
the writer Congress was flooded with petitions pray- 
ing for the suspension of the United States mails 
on this day. Attempts have been made to keep the 
postoffice closed. A long and bitter contest has 
been waged against railway travel. Daily newspa- 
pers published on the "Lord's day," were wicked 
things; and street car's were not to be tolerated for 
a moment. The farmer's crops must be left to 
spoil in the fields, rather than harness a team to 
haul them under cover. 

But a change has been gradually effected in 
public opinion, and the good work still goes on. 

Some fifteen years ago a vigorous attempt was 
made in Philadelphia to prohibit the Union Passen- 
ger Kailway Company from running their cars on 
Sunday. The lower Court granted an injunction 
prohibiting their use; but the Supreme Court of the 
State, after a full hearing of all the facts and argu- 



*The Blue Laws of the Dominion of New Haven, so-called because 
printed on blue paper, contained the following provisions on the Sab- 
bath, according to Rev. Samuel A. Peters, who had charge of the English 
churches in Hartford and Hebron, before the American Revolution: — 

"No one shall travel, cook victuals, make bread, sweep houses, cut 
hair, or shave on the Sabbath day. 

"No one shall cross a river on Sunday but an authorized clergyman. 

"No one shall kiss his wife, her husband, or child on the Sabbath, or 
on fasting days. 

"The Sabbath day shall commence at sunset on Saturday." 



18 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

ments, reversed the decision and dissolved the in- 
junction. Judge Reed, in giving the opinion of the 
Court, declared that "Sunday, as a holy day, was un- 
known to the early Christians, and was merely of ec- 
clesiastical origin though subsequently sanctioned 
by law." He quoted largely from the fathers of 
the church sustaining his positions, and then de- 
clared "The running of street cars on Sunday is a 
'work of neccessity and charity,' and, consequently 
not within the statute." In closing his verdict the 
Judge said: — 

"I am deeply impressed with the necessity of a 
proper observance of Sunday, as a day of worship 
and prayer, and of rest from labor; but living under 
the new dispensation, and not under the old dispen- 
sation, I feel no inclination to turn the Lord's day 
into a Jewish Sabbath." 

This decision was not reached until 1874. Sub- 
sequent efforts have been made in Pennsylvania 
and other States to procure special legislation 
against the running of street cars on Sunday; but 
this nearly or quite unanimous opinion of the learn- 
ed Judges of the highest Court of judicature in 
the Keystone State has probably settled this ques- 
tion for all time. 

Whenever farmers have been prosecuted for se- 
curing their harvests against approaching storms 
similar decisions have been made; and so with 
many other occupations where labor was necessary. 

The tendency of the Courts, both inferior and 
superior, of late years, has been to give a strict in- 
terpretation to these semi-criminal statutes, and to 



THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 19 

allow the fullest possible liberty to the people 
compatible with good morals. Any wanton 
desecration of the day has been justly punished; 
but many pursuits which do not disturb the pop- 
ulace, or interfere with the public peace, have not 
been molested. An occasional prosecution, often 
for mere spite, has usually brought down the indig- 
nation of the people on the informer, without en- 
hancing the popular regard for the law. 

As a day of rest there can be no objection to the 
Sabbath; on the contrary, used for relaxation from 
toil and exemption from business cares, it may be 
very serviceable in our artificial society, ever on 
the strain; but, as a sacred or holy day, it has no 
foundation in Nature. If set aside by the Creator 
for His worship it would have been so well defined 
that no one could mistake His intent. God works 
as vigorously on that day as any other day. The 
sun shines as warmly, the flowers bloom as beauti- 
fully, the birds sing as joyfully, the lambs gambol 
as playfully, and all nature is as active on Sunday 
as Monday. The rivers flow on to the ocean, the 
winds, and clouds, and waves stay not in their 
movements; the thunders are quite as loud, the 
lightnings as forked, the rains as heavy, the 
cyclones as destructive, and the tides as violent 
while puny man worships as when he profanes. 
All vegetation grows as luxuriantly on this man- 
defined "Lord's day" as on any other day. The 
machinery of life is no more liable to be checked 
in any of the animal tribes, or in man himself, be- 



20 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

cause of this holy day. The restraints of munici- 
pal law or social custom, may induce man to be 
idle on the Sabbath; but Nature makes no special 
demand in this direction. Though the law may be 
hoary with age, and devised by men of wisdom, yet 
it is not inherent in our natures, and its infraction 
is no more the violation of God's law than it is to 
laugh on Monday, or weep on Tuesday. 

The reply of Jesus to the Jews, who charged him 
with breaking the Sabbath, John 5: 17, as rendered 
in the revised translation: "My Father Worketh 
even until now, and I Work," is fully corrobora- 
tive of the teachings of Nature in this regard. 



reply to critics. 

An Inquirer, who has read the foregoing articles, 
states that the idea is a new one to him, that the 
Chaldeans, Assyrians, Egyptians, etc., divided time 
into weeks of seven days, and that one of those 
days was consecrated to the worship of their gods. 

A flood of light has been poured upon the his- 
tory of those ancient nations during the last few 
years. We are to-day better acquainted with their 
history, laws, manners, customs and institutions, — 
thanks to the researches of oriental scholars, — than 
at any other period during the preceding two 
thousand years. 

No careful student of general history who has 
delved into the early beginnings of our race, will 
call in question the correctness of our statement- 



THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 21 

Seven names occur for seven successive days, no 
more, no less, in all our ancient authors. 

Says the Encyclopedia of Eeligious Knowledge, 
article Sabbath: "Intimations of this weekly revo- 
lution of time are to be found in the earliest Greek 
poets, Hesiod, Homer, Linus, as well as among 
the natives of the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Greeks 
and Eomans." The writer quotes Gen. 22: 27, as 
scriptural confirmation that 'weeks' were mentioned 
as freely before the law was given to Moses as 
afterwards. 

Dion Cassius, the great Roman historian, who 
wrote at the close of the 2d century, informs his 
readers that the Egyptians devoted the last day of 
the week, Saturday, to the worship of the gods. 

But as space is too limited to follow this subject 
at length, one quotation shall suffice. The lamented 
Geo. Smith, late of the Department of Oriental 
Antiquities in the British Museum, who translated 
the cuneiform inscriptions on the pantiles, the re- 
mains of Assurbanipal's Library, found in the ruins 
of Nineveh, and for more than 3,000 years buried 
under the sands of the desert, and beyond reach of 
the destroying hand of man, is the highest authority 
regarding the early history of these people. Their 
earthern records were not impaired by the tooth of 
Time, and they were alike beyond the control of the 
interpolator. In all that long period, until within 
less than a score of years, they were not subjected 
to translation, emendation, or correction, to accom- 



22 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

modate any man's caprice, nor adapted to anybody's 
creed. In Prof. Smith's excellent work entitled 
"Assyria from the Earliest Times to the Fall of 
Nineveh," predicated on these records, page 13, he 
says: — 

"Various feasts were appointed, but the most re- 
markable were the Sabbaths, which were in use in 
Assyria as well as among the Jews. The Assyrian 
months were lunar, and these were divided into four 
parts, corresponding with the four quarters of the 
moon, the seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first and 
twenty-eighth days being the Sabbaths. On these 
Sabbath days extra work and even missions of mercy 
were forbidden. Certain foods were not to be 
eaten, and the monarch himself was not to ride in 
his chariot. The enactments were similar in char- 
acter to the Jewish Code." 

Any amount of cumulative evidence in the same 
direction with the above can be furnished, but it is 
unnecessary. All of the ancient civilizations bor- 
rowed their divisions of time from older civiliza- 
tions, among which were lunar months, weeks and 
Sabbaths. The Jews borrowed their laws in this 
regard from some of the nations who held them in 
slavery, and their high priests, who compiled their 
records, ascribed them to a "Thus saith the Lord." 

Another Reviewer writes: — "A Sabbath of rest is 
necessary for the full development of our physical 
powers, and for the preservation of health. The 
horse and ox live longer and perform greater ser- 
vice when given one day in seven for rest." 

We appeal to any laboring man who devotes but 
ten hours a day to reasonable toil, if he does not 
resume labor with more reluctance on Monday than 



THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 23 

on any other day of the week. Keference is not 
made to those who are overworked; but to the great 
mass of laboring men, mechanics and others, who 
use good judgment in their expenditure of muscular 
energy. They may desire rest for social or literary 
pleasures, or to look after family or personal affairs, 
but they are not invigorated by a day's relaxation, 
neither are they better qualified to endure next 
week's toil. "Blue Monday" is as well recognized 
in the school-room as in the work-shop. 

And will not the uniform testimony of man in 
this direction prove also true of his servants, the 
lower animals, which he has forced into his service ? 

Morally, the oft-quoted maxim, "An idle brain is 
the Devil's work-shop," is true of the idler on the 
Sabbath. The drinking saloons are closed on Sun- 
day to keep the vicious and dissolute from tippling 
on that day. Were there no incentives to idleness 
there would be no greater tendency to drunkenness 
on Sunday than Monday. Many manufacturers, 
knowing the temptation to intemperance and de- 
bauchery which Sunday imposes on its devotees, 
wisely withhold payment for the week's labor until 
the following Monday, otherwise some of the work- 
men, instead of reporting for duty on Monday, 
would be engaged in a drunken debauch, and per- 
haps, half the week would be lost before sufficiently 
sobered to resume labor. 

It may be said, "The place of the laboring man 
on Sunday is at church." Does not observation 
teach that very few of them frequent a house of 



24 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

worship on Sunday? On the contrary there is no 
place they hold in such aversion as the close and 
stifling air, the hard seats, the somber hues, the 
long solemn faces and starched collars common to 
the house of God, saying nothing of the teachings 
from the pulpits, which, in too many cases, were 
better adapted to their juvenile years than to mature 
reflecting manhood. 

The Prison Reports, referred to as showing the 
fate of Sabbath breakers, do indeed tell a terrible 
tale. Several of them before us as we write, pre- 
pared by the Chaplains of such prisons, show that 
95 per cent of the convicts had been attendants 
upon Sunday schools, and that they drew their first 
lessons in morals from these nurseries of virtue. 



AN APPEAL TO HISTORY. 

An appeal is made to history to show that "Every 
nation and community has been prospered while it 
honored God's Sabbath !" We have been inno- 
cently taught that the sublime teachings and moral 
precepts of Jesus made nations and individuals 
prosperous and happy; not the observance of a day 
which he did not regard as holy; which his apostles 
did not specially revere; and which draws all its 
sacredness from statute law, ecclesiastical require- 
ment and long custom. 

Let us see how well history sustains our Review- 
er's proposition: — 

"God's Sabbath," according to popular teaching, 



APPEAL TO HISTORY. 25 

was first given to the Jews. For many years there- 
after they were homeless wanderers in the deserts 
of Arabia. After they succeeded in slaying the 
inhabitants of Canaan and became possessed of her 
cities we find them in almost continual strife with 
each other, else at war with neighboring nations. 
During nearly the whole period they figure so con- 
spicuously in sacred history as "the favored people 
of God," Palestine was a province paying tribute 
to some other nation, else they were held as slaves. 

The Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, arti- 
cle Jerusalem, says : — 

"Intestine divisions and foreign wars, wicked and 
tyrannical princes, and last of all, the crime most 
offensive to Heaven, and the one least to be expected 
amongst so favored a people, led to a series of 
calamities, through the long period of nine hundred 
years with which no other city or nation can furnish 
a parallel." 

Judea was sometimes a province of Egypt, then 
of Babylonia, then of Chaldea, then of Persia, 
always in distress, hated of all people and claiming 
to be "The chosen of the Lord." She was for a 
time a Grecian, then a Roman colony. Her temples 
were thrown down, the walls of her cities demol- 
ished, her cultivated fields laid waste, her people 
scattered and frequently held as slaves. For a long 
period the under-ground caverns of Jerusalem fur- 
nished retreats and hiding places for robbers and 
brigands. The name of her capital was substituted 
by another, and a statue of Jupiter Olympus was 
set up in the place of her sacred altars. 



26 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

During these long years of wretchedness these 
people were so regardful of the Sabbath they would 
not defend themselves against the attacks of a com- 
mon enemy on that holy day. And this the "pros- 
perity" of one of the "nations and communities" 
which received "God's Sabbath." If this is what 
our Reviewer calls prosperity then we ask for the 
opposite. 

The Sabbath of Constantine, now designated as 
the Lord's Day, was instituted, as before shown, in 
the year 321. Greece was then in her greatest 
prosperity. The remains of her cities, her temples, 
her architecture, her sculpture, her literature, all 
tell of her advancement prior to that event. The 
most gorgeous structures ever reared by the hand of 
man were demolished, her altars were broken, her 
populous cities wasted, and her cultivated people 
were subordinated to a system of religious tyranny 
scarcely excelled in any period. These followed 
closely upon that event, and show the kind of 
"prosperity to nations" which succeeded the institu- 
tution of the so-called Christian Sabbath. 

Egypt at that time was covered with populous 
cities, magnificent temples, and enduring monu- 
ments, all evidencing her material prosperity. 
AVhere are the indications of her greatness now? 
In desolation and ruin ! following closely upon 
Constantine' s edict establishing his Sabbath wher- 
ever his power prevailed. 

Rome, the mistress of the world ! The whole of 
Europe but provinces of her mighty civilization;. 



APPEAL TO HISTOEY. 27 

tolerant of all religions; everywhere seeking the 
highest happiness of all her subjects, each proud to 
say "I am a Roman citizen !" and yet we date her 
fall as a nation to the time the Sabbath of Constan- 
tine was established; for then her liberty, her pros- 
perity, her greatness, and granduer were gone ! 
Solitary and alone she sat in her ruins, for fifteen 
hundred years the center of a vast system of religi- 
ous tyranny, with her Popes, and Cardinals, and 
Bishops, and Priests; swaying the destinies of 
nations by anathemas and bulls; selling indulgences 
to commit all manner of crimes, to raise funds to 
build her Vatican and St. Peter; waging wars the 
most terrific in the name of Christianity; compelling 
monarchs to walk long distances, bare-headed and 
bare-footed, and bow submissively before the Pope, 
to expiate imaginary injuries to the church; estab- 
lishing her Inquisitions to make her power still 
more potent; retarding science in its progress and 
imprisoning its votaries; producing an era of a thou- 
sand years crimsoned with blood; ignorance, super- 
stition and priestcraft everywhere in the ascendant; 
known through all future time as 'The Dark Ages.' 
It was during this period, when 'religion fenced in 
all crimes,' that the institution of the Sabbath 
became a political fixture, which we now inherit, 
jand which our critic says, "makes nations and 
communities prosperous and happy." 

When the Spaniards reached America, bearing 
the cross before them, they found Mexico and Peru 
far advanced in civilization. These people had a 



28 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

written language, and were worshippers of a com- 
mon Parent, of which the sun was His brightest 
symbol. The Sabbath of Constantine was estab- 
lished among them. Their palaces, rivaling those 
of Egypt in magnificence, were demolished, their 
histories were burned, as were their rulers, and the 
masses were massacred or enslaved. Have the 
Indians of America, whether South or North, cause 
to rejoice for the introduction of the Sabbath into 
America? Let the small remnants of her few re- 
maining tribes, fleeing before the cross, or falling 
prostrate in their march answer ! 

But we do not care to follow this line of thought. 
Briefly, the ruin of nations followed in the trail of 
the Sabbath. Their prosperity again dawned when 
Luther and his co-reformers taught the people "to 
work on that day, to ride on it, to dance on it, to 
feast on it, to do anything that shall remove this 
encroachment on the Christian spirit and liberty." 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 

"France attempted to destroy the Lord's day to 
introduce Atheism into the nation," so says our 
clerical reviewer. 

We are apprehensive our friend has read history 
to little purpose, else he would not make such a 
wild and blundering statement. France had been 
tyrannized over for centuries by kings, who ruled by 
olivine right." These kings had been anointed by 
the priests, and the two were in a sort of partner-- 



THE FEENCH EEVOLUTION. 29 

ship to oppress and enslave the people. It was 
rebellion to kingcraft and priestcraft which aroused 
the people to action; which demolished the bastile; 
tried Lonis 16th for his crimes against humanity; 
executed him; and, unfortunately, placed the bloody 
Robespierre in power. It was not to introduce 
Atheism into the nation; nor to destroy the Lord's 
day; nor to revel in blood; but the rebellion was of 
a similar character with the revolution in America, 
which made these States free and independent of 
kingly rule; which for the first time in centuries 
enabled men to entertain honest opinions, and ex- 
press them in opposition to kings, and priests, and 
those who serve them. 

It was the law of retaliation that crimsoned France 
with excesses; covered her memory with odium; 
made her historic page so sanguinary! She hated 
priests and their teachings, because they always 
sided with the tyrant. In throwing off their power 
the people struck at the machinery which had been 
employed to oppress them.* 

In a second article, published in the Morning 
flerald, signed, 'A Lover of the Sabbath,' evidently 
designed as a further covert reply, he says : — 

"The example of the French nation is a fearful 
illustration of the tendency * * to break 



•No attack was made on religion, nor did it enter one way or other 
into the conflict as a great element, until the priests, began to declaim 
from the pulpit against the Assembly, denouncing every act of thc^ 
reformers as sacrilegious, and exciting tin: people to resistance. The 
ehurch took sides "•:/// ///< throm and tin- aristocracy, as it had been a 
partner in their oppressions mid rapacity, and ofcour.se it went down 
with lYicm.—Htadley's Miscellanies, page 5. 



30 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

down all respect for divine or civil authority, and 
give full scope to crime." 

Does our Reviewer know that prior to the French 
revolution the clergy and nobility had become so 
powerful they owned nearly two-thirds of all the 
real estate in France, and controlled every depart- 
ment of government? that the wealth of the country 
was in the church, exempt from taxation, else owned 
by the aristocracy who were but subservient tools 
manipulated by priests? that while king, priests, 
and nobles were rioting in luxury, the laborers 
were paying the taxes to support government and 
giving one-tenth of their income to ecclesiastical 
institutions which were riveting more firmly upon 
them the barbaric teachings of a barbarous age? 
that the feudal system, with all its attendant evils, 
was in full force, including the law of primogeniture, 
entailed estates and serfdom? that in 1788-89 France 
was visited by a hail-storm of great severity, which 
destroyed the growing grain, so that universal suf- 
fering followed, and famine seemed imminent? that 
men and women wandered over the country for 
food, and finally presented themselves before the 
king praying for relief? 

Such was the condition of France when the revo- 
lution burst upon the nation. The French people 
had witnessed the triumph of republicanism in 
America. Lafayette and his brave companions in 
arms, had returned and infused the spirit of Liberty 
through the army and country. The patriot 
Thomas Paine, "the author-hero of the American * 



THE EKENCH EEVOLUTION. 31 

revolution," visited France and aided the cause he 
so greatly loved. At all times he opposed the -ex- 
tremes of his party, which took him to prison, and 
but for an accident would have carried him to the 
block. Facti6ns ruled the hour, and the best men 
fell between them. 

The name which comes down to us as the most 
infamous in this terrible revolution was Kobespierre. 
He was the head of the celebrated triumvirate, which 
for the time controlled the destinies of the country. 
Professing to be a violent republican, he became 
the leader of the rabble against the king, whom 
he caused to be beheaded, and inspired the horrible 
slaughter of the nobility and clergy, and all who 
opposed his aggrandizement. Like the author of 
the article under consideration, he was 'A Lover 
of the Sabbath.' It is a mistake to suppose that 
the Atheists of France were responsible for the 
bloody orgies from which our friend and all human- 
ity recoils.* On the contrary this man was a fiend, 
par excellence, in human form ; a votary of the pop- 
ular religion; but opposed to monarchy and the 
nobility. The Eeign of Terror, during which the 
best blood of France was sacrificed on the altar 
of faction,f and near a million of her population 
was massacred, was terminated by the enemies of 



*< 'loots, an Atheistic leader who was guillotined, said, in. illustration 
of the views of his faction: — "In my commonwealth there will be few 
public offices, few taxes, and no executioner."— Thiers French "Revolu- 
tion^ Vol. 1. //. 867. 

tThe executions were so numerous and frequent under Robespierre's 

dictatorial rriirn the very waters of the Loire became polluted to such 
an extent their use was forbidden as injurious to health. — See Student's 
///story of Franc, page 569. 



32 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. ' 

disorder, who had witnessed the bloody scenes 
through which they had just passed, and who ban- 
ished by law the Supreme Being, from France, 
declared Keason the only true object of worship, 
amended the calendar, and abrogated 'the Sabbath. 
Blood ceased to flow and order was established under 
their short reign, to be again broken by that other 
'lover of the Sabbath,' Napoleon, who restored the 
Lord's day and popular theology, and re-inaugurated 
a protracted reign of war and violence. 

Enough! Let it be remembered that the Jubilee 
of Demons was headed by the bloody Robespierre, 
and that when in the hight of his power, and the 
soil of France was saturated with blood, and every 
home was filled with woe, he decreed a festival to 
the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, at ivhich he 
presided in solemn pomp! 



Thiers, in his Introduction to French History, page iii, gives us some 
faint idea of the condition of France at the commencement of the great 
struggle. He says:— 

"They [the people,] possessed scarcely a third part of the soil, upon 
which they were compelled to pay feudal services to their lords, tithes to 
their priests, and imposts to the king. In compensation for so many 
sacrifices they enjoyed no rights; had no share in the administration; 
and were admitted to no public employments. * * Everywhere 
Corruption stalked with unblushing front. It wore the General's uni- 
form, — the Judge's robe, — the Bishop's hood. It had the privilege of 
entre at Court, and sat nest the Monarch at the royal banquet. 11 

Following this state of facts, and prior to the opening of the Reign of 
Terror, the Legislative Assembly, corrected many of these grievances. 
In the language of Student's History of France, page 538: — 

"All religious persuasions were made equal before the law: the right 
of succession by primogeniture was abolished, and parents were com- 
pelled to make equal division of their property among all their children; 
the liberty of the press was proclaimed ; hereditary titles of nobility were 
suppressed, and the aristocracy were reduced to the level of ordinary 
citizens; all Frenchman, without distinction of class or creed, were 
declared alike admissible to all civil and military employments: the 
criminal code was reformed, aud its provisions were mitigated with 
regard to capital punishment. The electoral franchise was placed, virtu- 
ally, in the hands of every individual citizen. 11 



FREEDOM TO ALL. S3 

FREEDOM TO ALL. 

From the first settlement of America to within a 
few years, custom, — and law as well, — has com- 
pelled him who cultivates the soil to fence against 
his neighbors' animals, else suffer the loss of his 
entire harvest, with no remedy. It has been re- 
cently discovered, in some of the States, and it is 
hoped will soon be in all of them, that it is the 
fault of him who raises stock from which the injury 
comes, and that he, the trespasser, should keep his 
cattle from roaming to the damage of others. 

Since the Creator has made no distinction in days, 
and many good men are of the opinion that all days 
are alike, is it not also in harmony with the advance- 
ment of modern thought, that he who wishes to set 
aside one day in seven for religious exercises be 
permitted to do so as freely as he desires, without 
interruption from his neighbor, provided he does 
not disturb others in so doing? In short, he shall 
have the same freedom as the growers of stock, 
— doing it at his own expense, not to the loss of his 
non-worshipping neighbor. 

Several prominent religious sects keep the 
seventh day of the week, instead of the first, and 
are permitted by law to transact their ordinary 
duties on the Sabbath. Should not the Mahomet- 
an, who keeps Friday as a sacred day, be equally 
free with the Jew, the Dunkard, the Seventh-day 
Baptist, the Adventist? Should not the scientist, 
and the man of cultured thought, who s^ees neither 
reason nor logic for making one day better than 



34 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

another, be permitted to exercise his own good 
judgment as regards the observance of the day? 

Procrustes, the Attican robber, who cut off the 
legs of those too long and stretched those too short, 
to fit all to a common bed; the Papists who em- 
ployed anathemas and inquisitorial tortures to force 
men to believe alike; our puritanical ancestors who 
hung Witches, whipped Quakers, and banished 
Baptists; and our own laws in regard to the Sab- 
bath, seem to have had a common origin, and that 
in mere physical force sufficient to compel obe- 
dience. 

Does any one suppose that Deity requires all the 
world to be silent and stand still while the few 
worship? Are devotional exercises of that character 
that they must be performed on Sunday, before the 
assembled audience, who listen with uncovered 
heads? What did Jesus mean when he told his 
disciples to not be as the hypocrites who pray to be 
seen of men, but "When thou pray est enter into thy 
closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to 
thy Father who is in secret," etc.? Should the 
Christian public regard the teachings of their ex- 
emplar in this regard even theit preachers would 
seek their closets instead of the public rostrum, 
and would not demand a day to be set apart ex- 
pressly to gratify this 'hypocritical' practice! 

While the world was sunk in barbarism, and only 
priests could read and write, the forum was the 
place from which the lav/ was proclaimed, and the 
people flocked there weekly to listen to the new 



HOPE IN THE COURTS. 35 

edict from the reigning king. They had no other 
way of learning what was required of them, or to 
what penalties they were subjected. The heralds 
bearing these messages were of the priestly order, 
and claimed to be in the service of the Lord. They 
required one-tenth of all the products of the fields 
and folds as compensation for their duties. 

Power once acquired is reluctantly surrendered. 
A privileged class whether in Pagan, Mahometan, 
or Christian countries, the clergy labor for pay, are 
passably good while their salaries are promptly paid, 
and are ever striving to retain their present author- 
ity and get as much more as they can; hence their 
bitter warfare to retain the Sabbath, and prevent 
its desecration, which, principally, means absence 
from church, its sacraments, and the withholding 
of regular contributions in support of the ministry. 

HOPE IN THE COURTS, — REFLECTIONS. 

The constitution of Illinois declares: — "The free 
exercise of religious profession and worship, with- 
out discrimination, shall forever be guaranteed; 
and no person shall be denied any civil or political 
right, privilege or capacity, on account of his reli- 
gious opinions." 

It is a 'civil right' to labor, and any statute which 
wrests one-seventh of the year from its natural use, 
and appropriates it to religious duties, is in deroga- 
tion of fundamental laAV. Some day the Supreme 
Court, with the independence of Lord Mansfield, 
who decided that slavery in England was in viola- 



36 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

tion of magna charta, and effaced it forever, will, by 
a similar decision, relegate Sunday, and all statutes 
that favor religions teachings in our public schools 
to the buried Past, and leave each person free to 
exercise his own natural promptings to worship 
God on Sunday, or labor in the field or workshop 
as duty to himself and family shall require, without 
being subjected to fine or censure. 

Judge Studley, of Connecticut, has recently made 
a very important judicial decision, the principles 
of which are applicable in every State, and which 
strike at the very vitals of this question. The man- 
agers of a Sunday excursion party were prosecuted 
for a violation of the Sunday laws, no doubt expect- 
ing to bar the people from enjoying a little fresh 
air and sun shine on this sacred day. Judge S., in 
giving the ruling of the court, said: — 

"The statutory prohibition does not imply a 
physical and impossible necessity. Some things 
may be 'necessary and merciful' in a crowded city 
which would be neither in a farming district. The 
excursion from New Haven, in which the defendants 
participated, was of this character. * * They 
are discharged." 

And this the verdict of an intelligent Court, in a 
State where only a little more than a hundred years 
ago a man was prohibited by law from kissing his 
wife or child on Sunday ! Shades of the past ! 
Authors of the Blue Code of Connecticut! — Can you 
rest, even in your hallowed graves, while your sons 
render decisions like these? Will you permit rail- 
way trains to sweep over the State on God's holy 



HOPE IN THE COURTS. 37 

day, loaded with thousands of light-hearted, joyous 
mechanics and their loved ones, making their way 
to the sea-side, or a deep old forest glen, where they. 
can enjoy Nature in her boundless munificence, 
drink from the purling brooklet at their feet, and 
adore a common Parent whose love is over all? 
Will you allow these humble worshippers to enjoy 
themselves in social pleasures, remote from care 
and the busy world, inhaling the health-giving 
draughts which has been provided in abundance for 
all ? Not if you have the power to prevent it, if the 
laws you enacted are a reflex of your sentiments. 

No wonder the clergy stand aghast, for soon is 
Othello's occupation gone, if such rulings become 
common. Long trains of heavily loaded passenger 
and freight cars sweeping with thunderous jar 
across the entire continent; street cars constantly 
moving; excursion trains going to and returning 
from neighboring towns; steamers plying on rivers, 
lakes and bays; the United States' mails distributed 
from fifty thousand post offices;, the gay and bustling 
world moving forward all day Sunday, and the 
Judges interpreting the law to give still greater 
privileges to the . people. We may well inquire, 
What will the end be? 

The mind is unfettered and men are free to think 
and express themselves on this question. A pow- 
erful public opinion is being formed in favor of 
larger individual, and social freedom. He who 
stands in the way of the car of Progress must ex- 
pect to be crushed. 



38 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

When all can read and understand quite as well 
as the preacher, and only the most ignorant believe 
• him an intermediate person between God and man, 
— just as likely to err as he, and since the fires 
of Purgatory are so nearly extinguished, they can no 
longer be employed to frighten men into the indorse- 
ment of obnoxious creeds, — the great need of the 
Sabbath for purposes of religious instruction is not 
apparent. 



INTERPRETATION OF A BORROWED LAW. 

It is a well recognized legal principle, that when 
we borrow a statute from another State, the rulings 
and decisions of the Courts of that country under 
the law are brought along with it, and may be 
read to the Court and jury in interpretation of 
the law. All modern legislation regarding the 
Sabbath, is but a reflex of the Code of Constantine, 
before cited. To understand the workings of that 
law, go with us, reader, into any Catholic country, 
and see how the day is observed by the parents of 
the law. Perhaps there is no country where the peo- 
ple are so completely subject to Catholic teaching 
as Spain. It is objected that Spain, and the Span- 
ish colonies in America have gone to extremes in 
making of Sunday a festal day. Shall we go to 
Rome itself, where the Pope, the great head of the 
church, is in spiritual power, and, until lately, had 
exclusive temporal authority? No, but better still, 
to Naples, which was visited by a correspondent of 



INTERPRETATION OF LAW. 39 

the Bockforcl Register, traveling in Europe, who 
wrote that paper on the 16th of June, 1882, pub- 
lished in the Register on the 19th of July following. 
Describing the people and country, the writer adds: 

"Sunday to them is merely a day to feast or make 
merrier than usual, or take the whole family to the 
theater, the circus, or the cafe, to drink wine and 
play dominoes. They have certainly a vast number 
of religious holidays, about 365 in the year; but 
they give these no practical observance as days of 
worship. On Fridays, and particularly on feast 
days, the leading theaters are closed, while on Sun- 
days the fascinating attractions of music, drama, 
tragedy, horse-racing, gambling, feasting, frivolity 
and superficial pleasures are all in full blast." 

Follow any traveler through the great Catholic 
countries, and he will find bull and cock-fighting, 
card-playing, masquerades, fandangoes and kindred 
amusements very general customs on the Sabbath, 
after the morning exercises of high mass. Clergy 
and communicants are alike attendants upon these 
olden-time relics of gladiatorial feats. It is the 
daughter of Catholicism, — the Protestant, — who 
has varied the original intent of Sunday from a day 
of festivity and joy to one of devotion and gloom. 

While it would not be desirable to return to the 
ancient games and customs of Greece and Home, 
nor copy the demoralizing practices of Spain, and, 
indeed, of any exclusive Catholic country, nor follow 
the Puritan fathers in its rigid observance, almost 
worship, but it could, and in good time will be made 
the grandest day of all the week for social pleasures 
and intellectual enjoyments; for deeds of mercy 
and charity, and for elevating and ennobling hu- 
manity. 



40 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

THE TEACHINGS OF NATURE. 

Nature makes no mistakes in her laws. She 
always punishes the real offender, and proportions 
the penalty to the wrong. Vicarious suffering is 
taught by creeds, not by Infinite Wisdom. Creative 
Energy needs no assistance from feeble man in the 
enforcement of His laws. He who thrusts his hand 
in the fire is burned, and he feels the penalty of 
violated law; he who falls over a precipice, over- 
taxes his physical or mental forces, disregards the 
changes of the seasons, or turns night into day, 
sooner or later receives the penalty affixed to those 
offences, and he finds no other person to suffer for 
him. For the infraction of every natural law we 
find a fixed and unchangeable penalty. The crimi- 
nal laws of man, on the contrary, frequently punish 
for doing those things not wrong of themselves, — 
such was that ordering the "stoning to death" for 
disregarding the Sabbath under Mosaic law. Tho' 
ascribed to God, yet the penalty inflicted for a vio- 
lation of the law was of that character to demon- 
strate that it was man-made, cruel in its provisions, 
and more worthy the head and heart of a Nero, or 
a Caligula, than of a merciful Parent. And all 
human legislation in the same direction, — trying 
to make holy that which is of precisely the same 
nature as unholy things, — will, with thinking men, 
prove a failure ; because whether the- penalties are 
great or small, they are all in derogation of natural 
rights, and a violation of the basic laws of the State 
and Nation. 



USE OF THE SABBATH. 41 

TRUE USE OF THE SABBATH. 

The day could be well employed in teaching 
great scientific and moral truths. Our public libra- 
ries could be thrown open on Sunday, and our young 
men, with an ambition above the fables of two thou- 
sand years ago, could obtain truthful ideas how 
worlds are made and hold their places in the bound- 
less universe. They could learn how light and heat 
are diffused; from whence come rains, and snows, 
and cyclones, the warmth of summer and the cold 
of winter, and the innumerable operations of natural 
law, without being taught that all these are special 
dispensations of Providence as rewards for good 
deeds or punishments for bad ones. One day in 
seven given to reading, instead of idleness, would 
materially advance knowledge. Lyceums could be 
opened with profit to thousands of laborers, who 
have no other time for mental culture. Even the 
theater, with its powerful influence, could be made 
an auxiliary of virtue, and would be infinitely supe- 
rior to lounging in fashionable resorts, or loafing 
on street corners. Picnics and family re-unions 
would keep alive the social circle, and extend and 
brighten the chain of friendship, which should 
unite all in a common bond. 

Instead of closing drinking saloons, — the great 
nurseries of crime, — on Sunday, close them on 
Monday, and all days, and banish the still-worm 
and its destructive product from the world, not by 
local legislation, engendering personal and neigh- 
borhood feuds, but by general law, national in its 



42 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

character, which will be as effective in Maine as 
in Texas, in the great cities as in the forest or plain. 
If trnly taught that "He serves God best, who 
serves man most," inspiring all to emnlate each other 
in noble deeds, and worthy lives, wonld it not be 
preferable to encouraging adoration for a day, — a 
mere revolution of time, — which comes and goes 
as do the seasons? 

CONCLUSION. 

Having learned to despise the professional poli- 
tician, who has no principle to guide him, whose 
only ambition is to serve his country for the reward 
it brings, and the stealings to which he gains access; 
so we have expressed in these pages an honest ab- 
horrence of those who exhibit such special love for 
Sunday, and employ it solely in propagating creeds 
and dogmas which dishonor our common Parent, 
whose love is as fathomless as eternity. Such 
men employ an active imagination, lessons drawn 
from all the material forces of nature, including the 
the lurid myths of the past, founded in ignorance 
and cruelty, to describe the condition of those in 
another life, over whom their influence is powerless 
in this. 

But no one holds in higher esteem than the 
author, the true educator, who disregards the nar- 
row inculcations of the church, and, rising above the 
fallacies of wasted centuries, teaches the Father- 
hood of God and the Brotherhood of Man, and who 
labors to elevate all to a higher plain, and a truer 
conception of life, its duties and destinies. 



CONCLUSION. 43 

Such teachers there are and have been, and it 
little matters to what church they belong. They 
are better than their creeds, and their moral exam- 
ple and teaching have a powerful influence on the 
race. 

And it is certainly cause for universal congratu- 
lation that the pulpit generally, has forsaken the 
use of anathemas and the defence of fables to en- 
gage in teaching natural truths, to a larger extent 
than ever before. Faith has done its work. It is 
being rapidly succeeded by facts, adapted to a real- 
istic age. 

We hail with joy every advance made in the 
church, or by private individuals, which has a ten- 
dency to hasten that "good time coining," foretold 
by sages, and hoped for by the genuinely good 
everywhere. 

In writing our views of the Sabbath, it has not 
been our intention to break down a single barrier 
to virtue, or to the practicing of a good life; on the 
contrary it is our firm conviction if less regard was 
paid to the observance of holy days, and holidays 
as well, the morals of community and the hope of 
the rising] generation would be improved. Even 
our national anniversary, sacred to patriotism, has 
been diverted from its original purpose, and it is 
quite questionable with many good men, if it is not 
prejudicial to the object for which it was designed. 
Instead of increasing the number of those days it 
would be well to diminish them. 



44 THE SUNDAY QUESTION. 

If our views do not con form to those of the 
reader he will remember that very appropriate 
remark of Jefferson, in his first inaugural, "Error 
of opinion may be tolerated where Reason is left 
free to combat it." 



HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL 



REVIEW OF 



THE SUNDAY QUESTION; 



REPLIES TO AN OBJECTOR. 



BY GEOEGE W. BROWN, M. D. 



ALL TIME IS TOO SACRED TO DO WRONG, NO TIME IS TOO 
SACRED TO DO GOOD. 



ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS: 

STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED UV THE AUTHOR. 

M d 



Price 1 5 Cents. 



JJ ^ 

TO TMK READER, 

The author of the preceding pages hopes to fol- 
low them in due time, with a series of semi-scien- 
tific papers entitled 

A General Deluge; 

Christmas, Its Origin; 

Time is Limitless; 

The Divisions of Time; 

Dawn and Tendency of Civilization; 

The Truth will Survive, the False Perish; 

Literary Vandalism ; 

Creation and Fall of Man; 

A Future Life: 

The Immaculate Conception; 

Churches Older than Jesus: 

Vicarious Sacrifice: 
And a large number of others which have been 
written at intervals of leisure, educational in their 
character, which it is believed will be highly in- 
structive to those in pursuit of Truth. Persons 
into whose hands these pages, the first in the series, 
shall fall, desiring them as they shall appear, at 
moderate cost, can address the author by postal 
card or otherwise. The whole when published 
will make a volume of from 400 to 500 pages, and 
will furnish a mass of information which cannot 
be obtained elsewhere in so limited space. 
^N Mockford, Illinois, Dec. 1, 1882. /p 



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